1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tremolo device for a guitar, and more particularly, it relates to a device enabling a precise return to an initial tuning of the strings of the guitar after the tremolo device has been used.
2. Description of the Related Art
A guitar, for example, an electric guitar, equipped with a tremolo device which is manually moved to produce a tremolo effect on musical tones obtained by, for example, plucking the strings, is well-known and widely used. Known conventional tremolo devices include a synchronized device fitted to guitars made by the Fender Company, a "Bigsby" device fitted to guitars made by the Gibson Company, and a "Vibramute" device fitted to guitars made by the Mosrite Company, and these tremolo devices have basically similar constructions.
Namely, these devices are provided with springs having a tension almost the same as the total tension of the strings of the guitar, and while an equilibrium is maintained between the tension of the springs and the total tension of the strings, the tones of the strings of the guitar are raised or lowered by moving a rod member, i.e., a tremolo arm, upward and downward in relation to a guitar body, to thus rotate the tremolo device about one fulcrum on the guitar body and thereby vary the tension of the guitar strings.
In the conventional tremolo devices mentioned above, however, a problem arises in that the whole of the device is always in a "floating" condition around one fulcrum, while maintaining an equilibrium between the tension of the springs and the tension of the strings.
In an ideal tremolo device, after the force applied to the tremolo arm is released, the tones raised or lowered by the device are returned to the exact initial tuning of the strings of the guitar, in which the equilibrium between the tension of the springs and the total tension of the strings is maintained. In practice, however, since the whole device is in a floating condition as mentioned above, deviations in the tones may occur which cannot be compensated by the restoring force derived from the tensions of the springs or strings, and thus the guitar will be out of tune when returned to the normal condition, i.e., when the tremolo device is inactivated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,568, discloses a tremolo device for a guitar, by which the above-mentioned problem is solved. This device is provided with a stabilizing mechanism comprising a stabilizing plate and a roller abutting the plate, and enables a return to an exact initial tuning after the device has been activated. An effect can be obtained according to this mechanism, of the same manipulating feeling as that of the afore-mentioned "floating" type of device, but the construction thereof is complicated, an adjustment of the stabilizing plate for the initial tuning position is troublesome, and the manufacturing cost is high.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,971, also discloses a tremolo device. This device has two fulcrums; one for raising the tone of guitar and one for lowering the same independently, and by presetting a tension of springs to a tension higher than that of the strings, a part of the tremolo device will come into contact with the guitar body. According to this construction, after the tremolo device has been used or when the tremolo device is inactivated, the exact initial tuning can be recovered, since the device comes into contact with the guitar body. Nevertheless, since the device does not have a floating construction, click-shocks will be produced when continuously manipulating the tremolo arm from the downward position to the upward position or vice-versa, and thus a smooth manipulation of the tremolo arm cannot be accomplished. Furthermore, due to the click-shock, it becomes difficult to play the guitar while finely oscillating the tremolo arm, i.e., to use a "tremolo playing technique".